Shiny
by NeoNails
Summary: Thirty seconds in, and Hardison already knew living with Parker was going to be the death of him.


I don't write nearly enough for _Leverage_, and I've been trying to rectify that as best I can. This past season has been positively adorable with all the Parker/Hardison they've been throwing at us, so I've got quite a bit of inspiration to go on.

This is set sometime in the same universe as my other oneshot, _Squirrely_, but by no means do you need to read that to understand.

$4$

_Tonight, tonight, he's gonna get it right  
>Even losers can get lucky sometimes<br>All the freaks go on a winning streak  
>In a perfect world, all the geeks get the girls<em>

- "Geeks Get the Girls," by American Hi-Fi

* * *

><p>Probably the most amusing aspect of having Parker keep some of her things in his apartment was actually finding said things. And she kept them <em>everywhere<em>.

Most of her clothing was kept in a few duffel bags in his ceiling—after that first incident, he made sure to periodically check. However, she kept a majority of her underwear in his bathroom in the cabinet under the sink. Yeah, it wasn't too alarming to find a bunch of black bras when he was going for mouthwash.

Bunny stayed on his bed for the most part—but not every day. Usually Bunny served as a good indicator if Parker was going to show up later that day, but he learned to never expect anything from his favorite blonde. He also didn't understand how Bunny got in and out of his apartment without ever setting off his state-of-the-art security system, but again, he knew better than to ask.

She once left the Rosalind diamond hanging from the edge of his flatscreen TV. When prompted, her only response was, "It looking boring, so I added something shiny."

Shiny. He wished he could pretend he was surprised, but her answer just made him grin. She decorated last year's Christmas tree diamonds, it wasn't like he could be shocked she'd do the same in his apartment.

She somehow knew exactly when he was streaming the latest _Dr. Who_ episode on his TV. He'd been in the process of exposing her to a couple different Doctors, but now she appeared without his prompting.

"Parker!"

He didn't know if she was in the apartment, but it was always a safe bet. And even if she wasn't, shouting her name seemed appropriate.

"Yup?" she answered, suddenly appearing by his elbow like magic.

"You took away all my food," he replied, staring into his cabinets desperately, like maybe if he stared hard enough his bags and boxes would reappear.

"No I didn't," she said, ponytail bobbing as she tilted her head to the side.

Hardison turned his head to stare at her with wide eyes, and then turned back to his cabinets. "Uhh, yeah, girl, you did," he said, gesturing to the contents in question. "It's all cereal!"

"I like cereal," Parker told him, studying him with a perfectly blank expression. "But I didn't get rid of your food. I put it in the pantry."

She—? Hardison continued to stare into the cabinets, his confusion only growing. There were at least four types of cereal, and over twelve boxes total.

"I also have some pretzels in the fridge," she added, inching forward and gently resting her chin on the crook of his elbow, a perfect height for her at the moment. He made the mistake of looking down at her, and looking into those giant eyes.

He always kept a small stock of pretzels in his pantry for her sake, but he felt a surge of pride at the knowledge that she was buying more, too.

"Do you want me to move my cereal?" she asked, her voice soft.

Staring down at her, he felt a soft smile appear on his lips. "No, babygirl," he replied. "I like keeping the cereal there, too."

She smiled, pleased with his response. "I like when you call me nicknames," she said, inching closer to him. "No one's ever done that before."

It was comments like that that made him want to pull her to his chest and never let go, but this was Parker and he learned never to push Parker and let her do things at her own pace.

"I like keeping stuff here, too," she added, looking away. This was the closest Parker got too embarrassed, he realized with a grin. He was ridiculously proud to have caused that.

Hardison shrugged, slowly shutting the cabinet doors without disturbing her. He weighed his next words carefully, "You can keep all of your stuff here, if you want."

Parker didn't move, but her nose wrinkled slightly. "You mean only live in one place?" she asked, leaning her head completely against his shoulder, her pale blonde hair tickling his much darker skin.

"I've heard that some people do that," he commented wryly. "And I've been told I'm not the worst roommate in the world to live with."

"You would want to live with me?" she asked. Her dark eyes looked even bigger than usual, and yet again he was reminded that he really couldn't deny her anything.

"Well, we kind of already do," he said, tilting his head toward the cabinets. "It would basically be a matter of making it official."

"Official?" Parker stepped back, curious. "Marriage?"

Hardison's eyes nearly bugged out of his head as he threw up his hands nervously. "No, no, no no-no-no. No marriage. I was thinking more like getting Chinese food and eating dinner together."

She smiled at his answer, her lips twisting knowingly. "Fortune cookies?"

This was why Hardison loved his tiny little whackadoodle. He knew her better than he knew anyone else. "Extra fortune cookies," he promised.

"Good," she said with a nod, then turned on her heel and went wandering off towards his living room. Of their own accord, his eyes followed her, settling on the tick-tock of her narrow hips. For someone so perfectly silent, she was damned distracting some days.

"If we got married, would that mean I get to meet your grandma?"

"_What?_"

Thirty seconds in, and Hardison knew living with Parker was going to be the death of him.

$4$

Nonsense. Fluff. Y'know, everything I write almost nonstop.

This was thankfully longer than _Squirrely_, and only makes slightly more sense.


End file.
